Echoing Footsteps
by CagedRaven
Summary: Having a hard life like Naruto can sometimes lead to having an addiction but what if this addiction isn't understood?
1. Chapter 1

Echoing Footsteps

_CagedRaven_

I do not own Naruto or its characters, I have only used them in the story.

A/n: excuse the small use of Japanese words like Sensei, I had to use it or else it just sounded odd for me. _Also, I just want to let everyone know that I don't condone Naruto's actions within my story. It was written just to be a story. _

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Chapter 1

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"There's something sad about the rain," the pink haired girl muttered as she and her three man team waited for their instructor. Both the girl with pink locks and the boy with black stood under the available tree branches, staying dry save for their open feet. The third group member lied in an open space between two trees, letting the rain drops fall upon his tanned skin as it may and made no attempt to move.

"It just washes everything away."

The only female hoped her crush heard her statement, if she predicted correctly he would look up at the gray sky and nod in agreement- maybe even start a conversation. But the raven hair boy did no such thing, much to her disappointment. His dark eyes stayed ahead of him, watching the blonde lie in what she thought was turning into mud.

"That's kinda gross, how long do you think he's going to stay there - should I wake him up?" She waited, her green eyes glazing between her two team mates.

Her crush didn't answer, nor return her look. It was a sign he didn't want to be friendly today. She took it to heart but didn't want to ruin their friendship so she learned to cope with his mood swings.

In the wet, open field the blonde continued to be rained upon, the water drops were starting to go through his layers and his thick hair looked as if it was becoming dyed with the mud. He didn't open his large blue eyes but let his ears take in the sounds around him. He agreed with his teammate, the rain did wash away everything.

_'Hopefully it'll work on me too.'_

A popping sound signaled their teacher had arrived - only three hours late.

"Yo," he saluted the dry ones with two fingers. "Sorry I'm late, there was this cat hanging from my gutter this morning and-"

"Stop lying!" the pink hair girl screamed, crossing her arms over her flat chest as she huffed.

The teacher gave a weak laugh and smiled under his mask. "Okay, lets see I have some important news for you Sasuke, Sakura, and" his index finger pointed to the empty pace a blonde would normally stand.

"He's over there, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura mumbled, pointing over his shoulder. The older man looked over to where the girl showed, his only visible eye grew smaller then it naturally was. Signing softly he walked over, signaling the other two to stay put. In five large steps he was already towering over the blonde, hands in his pockets as he waited for acknowledgement.

Sensing he wouldn't leave, the youth tilted his head and opened his blue orbs toward the teacher.

"Naruto," his tone was light with underline curiosity and worry. But of course it would be; he had been the one to find him first the last time the blonde had went too deep.

"Kakashi-sensei." He returned, sighing softly as he sat up ignoring the wet earth that clung to his backside, his wet, dirty locks covering his bows. After a moment the blonde stood, never lifting his eyes from the moist earth.

"I'm gonna go home, take a bath. I'll be back to train." He started to walk away from the silver haired man, hearing the way his feet made sloppy noises with each step.

"Naruto," said boy paused in his next step, he knew what was coming. "I'll give you ten minutes."

Naruto didn't retaliate like he had done in the past, _'It takes ten minutes to get to my house let alone do what I have to!'_ He knew what Kakashi-sensei would just answer with. _'Then you'd better run.'  
_  
The youth continued to walk and the silence between the three remaining members of team seven followed through as they watched until his mud coated blonde locks couldn't be seen anymore.

"What was that all about?" Sakura wondered aloud. Sasuke too wondered but remained silent.

Kakashi walked back to the black and pink haired children and continued his forgotten conversation as if there had never been an interruption. In the back of his mind he counted down the clock he'd mentally set.

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Naruto opened his front door, breathing heavily after his fast paced sprint to get back home with enough time. He tried to fight his lungs, order them to calm down and stop being so greedy but they continued to suck in large gulps of air and through it back out. The continuous labored breathing was making his throat raw.

He peeked at the clock on his stove, it took him less time then before, he still had seven minutes. Without a second thought he stripped on his way into the shower, letting the hard water hit his skin just as the rain had been doing. The dirt came off pretty easily but his hair seemed to have become tangled and matted. He combed through it quickly, ignoring the pain as it pulled out the mud along with strands of his golden hair.

He turned off the water, through on a towel and headed for his room to get dressed. After slipping on a pair of green boxers Naruto pulled on the first set of clothes he saw, an orange jacket with the matching pants and a black shirt to go underneath. His blue eyes looked at the time again, making sure he gave himself at least a minute and a half to run into Kakashi at the market like he usually did. The blonde was about to open the front door when a glass splitting noise entered his ears. He turned toward it and went to investigate.

It was nothing, a mug he had stupidly left on the on the windowsill after the side table top became full. It had been pushed off to its death by the wet wind coming in through the slightly open window.

Time seemed to move slowly as he moved across the room to the shattered glass. It was calling out to him. The razor shape edges that could give him that high wanted to meet his flesh. Who was he to say no?

Naruto held one of the largest pieces in between his fingers, watching it as he weighted his options. He lowered it to his awaiting wrist and begged for all his blood to run.

"Naruto, put it down."

Naruto looked over to the doorway, watching the man that was watching him. The boy let a smile over take his face as his tossed the piece of ceramic glass into the garage bin conveniently behind him.

"What's wrong, Kakashi-sensei; I was only throwing away a broken mug." He pouted, "It was my favorite one too."

The jonin's eyes shadowed Naruto's every movement. He did pick up each piece and toss it away but the smile still hung on his lips. A smile Kakashi had once thought was very real until _that_ day.

"I guess you want me to bring this outside too, huh?"

Kakashi nodded.

"Thought so."

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It had become a rule to hardly leave Naruto alone for no more then fifteen minutes - for if he had to go to restroom or something along those lines. Check his wrist every day- just in case- and make sure he ate. During the day, and because of his trainings with him, Kakashi was in charge. During the night Iruka, one of the blonde's old teachers, would keep an eye on him. This whole situation was kept on a need to know bases. No one Naruto's aged needed to know that the blonde was suicidal or some of the other teachers. In fact the only ones that did know were Kakashi, Iruka, and the leader of the village, the old man Hokage.

By Naruto's standers it was three too many. They were making it very hard, practically impossible for him to deal with his stress. They didn't have to live with the dark whispered voices whenever they walked past the villagers, they didn't have to live with a demon sealed inside them unwillingly, they didn't have to live with fact that no matter how hard they tried they were never noticed. He did, but he didn't want to.

His cutting at first started out as a mistake. One of his weapons had gotten to close to him and from then on he had become attracted to the vibrant color against his skin. He had made more cuts as time went, very shallow ones that uplifted him on his worst days. But then one day he wondered if just a drop had made him happy what if he saw more? With that in mind he started to dig deeper into his skin. Letting more of the red liquid run free from its cage. Seeing the dancing blood did more than make him happy, it relaxed him. Forcing him into a state of lightheadedness and exhaustion. He remembered his heart beating loudly in his chest, knocking against his ribcage almost painfully. He closed his eyes and was greeted by darkness.

He woke up later in the day; his cut had stopped bleeding and was starting the beginning stages of forming a scab. Though his body felt heavy and his movements as he walked from the living room into his bedroom were sluggish, his brain was on cloud nine. He had found his escape.

Naruto had done the same thing a few more times in the same month, enjoying every minute of it as he felt his body grow heavy and his lids feel like a ton of bricks were weighing them down. The blood would always stop flowing, like a sink that had been turned off and a scab would always form. He was sure that all was okay and that the fox demon inside him had something to do with it.

He remembered _that_ day wasn't that bad but like a drug addict Naruto needed his fix. He took a pair of scissors he used to snip his hair if he thought it was getting too long from the medicine cabinet and sat in the tub after reopening the same wound again. He could feel it almost instantly. The wave of peace rushing over his body. This was his total bliss.

The darkness covered his eyes again, like it normally would after the first few minutes. Naruto didn't fight it off; he welcomed it just like always. As the beating of his heart grew faster and faster the darkness seemed to become thicker and more solid. Suddenly the situation was turning into one he had never thought it would. Was he going to die?

For a moment, Naruto felt an infinite distance between him and the world. He felt like everything in front of him was already behind him, or in the past. He really was dieing wasn't he?

Somehow through the numbness Naruto had felt his lips tugging up into a weak smile.

_'A prefect ending to my horrible story of a demon container.'_ He thought, letting himself be consumed in the shadows for what he thought was the last time.

It wasn't meant to be though, Kakashi had let himself in, as he normally did, returning Naruto's weapon case that he had left on the training field earlier that day. The teacher would had left it on his students kitchen table and exited just as quickly as he'd entered if it wasn't for the scent of spilt blood all over Naruto's apartment. It was old, he had been sure of it, but some of it was fairly new. Like the one powerful scent coming from behind the closed door. Kakashi moved silently and was fluid on his toes, crossing the room quickly. Not too sure of what to expect the silver haired jonin pulled out a small metal blade and eased the door open.

He was shocked beyond belief at what he saw. Naruto was submerged under the red tinted water of his tub, a pair of blood laced scissors screaming to Kakashi from the tiled floor what his brain didn't seem to understand.

He was at the boy's side in seconds, pulling the blonde's naked body out of the water and pumping his chest to start his heart going again.

Kakashi had managed to bring him back to life, but the small smile his lifeless face had shown disappeared as soon as he realized where he was. It was the first sign to Kakashi of Naruto's unstableness.

From that day forward the blonde always had someone watching him.

The blonde had learned something though; the demon's chakra had a hard time healing the cuts he made when they stayed in water. It was interesting, but most of all useful, information. That one moment when he knew he was going to die, that darkness that over took his mind, it gave him such a good feeling. The only way he could explain it again was like a drug addict again. He had gotten the real drug in him now, the watered down imitation wasn't going to work anymore. The blonde had a feeling he would go through that as well.

Naruto looked down at his bare feet, stepping out the shower. He knew Iruka was in the next room, grading papers looking through text books, but most importantly timing him. His old teacher only gave him five minutes, claiming it to be long enough to clean himself off before bed. The blonde felt like five year old being passed between the two parents who were just divorced.

Towel drying his golden locks and wiping his face off along with the rest of his body Naruto began getting dressed, slipping on his blue pajamas pants and large white shirt.

He sighed, pulling on slippers next to shield his feet from the cold floor. He went into the medicine cabinet, not surprised that his scissors were gone, and took two tablets dry in hopes that his new headache would vanish. As he was putting the plastic bottle back something small and metallic caught his eye.

_'What's this?'_ he thought, picking it up.

It was a small nail filer with a rounded tip to help clean under the nails. The older males must have believed it was safe and he couldn't cause himself any harm with it. Either that or they missed it; the nail filer was pretty small. Naruto had to go with latter.

He eyed it in between his fingers; loving the cool kiss the metal gave his skin. This would help him get his fix. The blonde wondered how much time he had, if it was enough time for him to meet the long awaited darkness. He thought for a while, listening past door to what the brown haired man was doing. Naruto could hear papers turning and maybe even whistling passing through Iruka's lips, he was consumed in whatever task he was doing.

With that in mind and without hesitation the blonde pressed the pointed tip of the nail filer into the flesh around his wrist. He needed to be heavy-handed to draw blood and proceed to move the small metal piece back and forth until it was deep enough for his liking. After completing the first wrist he moved to the second, already feeling his heart banging in his chest as the white tiled floor was beginning to be painted red. Naruto let the bended nail filer fall to the floor along with his dripping red body fluid.

The cuts were made; the crimson coating his tanned arms was something not even the greatest artist could duplicate. Naruto could feel the darkness over taking him but it wasn't like the last time. This blanket of shadows was weak and transparent compared to his last taste of true darkness. The blonde had been right, after Kakashi had saved him on that day Naruto would become a slave for the feeling of coal colored loneliness.

"Water," he whispered, fighting back his heavy breathing. The blonde turned on the sink and waited until it filled to place his hands in it. The water was warm and made the deep cuts sting as they bled out more. He could feel it taking affect immediately, here was the difference he wanted, needed. His eyes drifted closed and his body became too heavy for his legs to support. Naruto found his way to the side of the tub, sitting on it as he leaned his forehead against the cool ceramic sink his hands were still awkwardly in.

He could barely here knocking on the door and Iruka calling his name before he let himself go, enjoying the feeling over taking his body.

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Iruka knocked on the door again, "Naruto?"

The blonde's time was up and he'd usually be out a few seconds before it. The man saw it as a change in the pattern Naruto made. What worried him more were the actions Kakashi had said he'd seen, the scattered mug and one of its pieces in his hand, hovering over his wrist. Naruto must have been trying to kill himself again that afternoon, and now he wasn't answering back.

_'What if...?'_ Iruka paled, his eyes glued to the door and ears open, awaiting any sound to enter them - a sound that would tell him he was wrong.

He tested the knob for the third time still finding it locked and thought in the future to get rid of it. Iruka called out to his old student once more, praying he'd answer him. The brunette had had enough. He pounded down on the door handle once, breaking it into pieces and kicked open the door.

Naruto was so pale. All over the floor were large groups of blood and even the water that had started to spill over from the sink the blonde had his hands in. Near his feet laid the small nail filer Iruka believed to be Naruto's chose of weapon - maybe even his only.

All sorts of emotions flooded the man's brain as he rushed toward Naruto. Worry, anger, sadness, but his strongest emotion was fear. What if he was too late to save his favorite student? What if Naruto really did succeed in killing himself, what would life be like without him?

"Hang on, Naruto! Don't die!" Iruka yelled to deaf ears as he laid the boy down on the crimson coated floor. He grabbed towels and rags to help stop the bleeding; tying some of the fabric he'd ripped tightly around the boy's arms like a tourniquet. He must have been doing something right; the bleeding did seem like it was slowing down but Naruto's pulse was still beating too quickly. He had lost a lot of blood.

Pressing down with almost all his weight onto the bloody towels Iruka eyed the doorway, down the hall and in the kitchen was the telephone that he could use to call Kakashi and the third Hokage. His brown eyes looked back down at the unnaturally pale boy; or he could just throw Naruto over his shoulder and take him to the hospital - contact the other two when the boy was there.

With the situation of Naruto's continued bleeding and heart racing Iruka agreed to follow through with his second plan of action. He took the blonde in his arms carefully, fearful that one wrong move might break him into pieces, and left through the front door running as fast as he could to the Konoha hospital.

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_'What is this?'_ he wondered, squinting into the powerful light. It was _too_ bright; he wanted darkness to stay for a little longer. He tried to roll over and bury his head under the sheets but found he couldn't move. He guessed it wouldn't have mattered, the darkness wouldn't had been the same.

"Naruto?" now he had to open his eyes and face whoever was waiting for him to do so. From the sounds of it, it was Iruka.

The blonde fluttered his eye lashes a couple of times, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the bright space he believed could only be a hospital, the white walls screamed it and the scent in the air. He looked at Iruka, unaware that his skin's new hue made his eyes have more of a contrast. He offered a fake, weak smile to the older man.

"My time was up, huh? For the shower I mean."

"...Yeah."

Naruto saw Kakashi come around the curtain; maybe before he had woken up he was speaking to the other person in the room? It kind of made the blonde curious, who was on the other side of the hanging fabric?

"This is not a joke, Naruto." He said sternly, then let his voice drop in volume so the blonde's roommate wouldn't overhear. "Why did you do this again?"

Naruto wanted to pull his hands through his hair - a nervous habit of sorts - and tell them to forget it, they wouldn't understand. He couldn't though; they obviously didn't trust him, having tied him down to the bed with some weird medical stuff that ate his chakra.

"I can't explain it," Naruto muttered. "You just wouldn't get it."

"That's too bad," Kakashi said as he turned to leave, Iruka right behind him. "You better think of a way to make me 'get it' by tomorrow, then. That goes for you too," Kakashi threw back the pale colored curtain. "Sasuke."

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TBC...  
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There it is; my first (well written) Naruto fanfic. By well written I mean an actual plot was thought out, unlike my other one… maybe I should just delete that one off the site…

Anyhow, I know all my Blood's Broth readers are most likely pissed off that I started yet another story when that one is completed - along with the other version to Elegant Nightmares. All I can say is, please forgive me! I had to write this one, it sounded so cool in my head and it was going to be the death of me if I didn't get it down on paper. Besides I wrote it for my sister who, sadly, doesn't have anything to read at the moment.

_Also, I don't have a beta for this story so if you should find anything that isn't right (spelling, etc.) please let me know. Or if you're interested in helping me out with my chapters please let me know. I just reread it for the third time and wow there were a lot of mistakes, so if you're rereading it and notice somethings that weren't there before it's because I fixed it up a little.  
_

Um, yeah…

Review please!


	2. Chapter 2

Echoing Footsteps

By: CagedRaven

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Chapter 2

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"Are you sure it was okay to have them both in the same room, Kakashi, even if it was just for over night?" Iruka asked as they walked down the hallway toward the front desk. "I thought we both agreed that they didn't get along too well. They're both unstable on top of that, what if-"

Kakashi broke the other man's sentence and said, "Sasuke isn't unstable at the moment, Iruka. He took his pills right there in the room in front of me."

"No, I guess he's not... but what if he says or does something that makes Naruto hate himself more than he already does?" The brunette couldn't help but worry.

"I doubt he will," Kakashi walked up to the desk and signed his name, passing the pen to Iruka when he was finished. "Sasuke's probably just going to fall asleep."

Iruka was surprised, "What did you give him?" he thought for a moment, "An anti depressant?"

Kakashi nodded, "A psychologist diagnosed him with Bipolar disease about a month - two months ago. I was thinking of bringing her over in the morning to meet Naruto; she's a really nice woman."

Iruka nodded as they walked through the front double doors of the large Konoha hospital and took in the clean air.

"I've been thinking of asking Gai for help to train Naruto without the use of weapons – he's into all that weight training. I don't want Naruto harming himself with shuriken, so I was just focusing on strength and stamina." Kakashi said.

Iruka looked down to the ground, "You may not have worry about that too much longer. I've asked the Hokage if Naruto could be taken out of his Ninja studies. I just don't want him to learn new techniques and then uses them to hurt himself."

Kakashi nodded, not saying a word.

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"Sasuke?" Naruto looked over to his left at the pale, raven haired boy in the dim light. His teammate looked back him with a blank stare, most likely already knowing the blonde was on the other side of the curtain, and faced the other way again.

What had Kakashi meant by adding Sasuke in his lecture? Why was Sasuke in the hospital to begin with? The blonde thought to himself, silently, not even knowing why he was in the hospital. His self inflicted cuts had most likely healed soon after his hands were pulled out of the water. He looked over to his right and craned his neck painfully over his shoulder toward the IV poll.

_'Ah, did they think I needed a blood transfusion?' _

He watched the scarlet liquid drip as many times per second as the machine had told it to before the pain in his neck became harder to ignore. Naruto could just see it upon his skin again, dancing as beautifully as running water. Each drop bringing the blonde closer and closer to his high.

Oh, he wanted it now!

Naruto's eyes darted to his arms, remembering bitterly that they were tied down to the hospital's bed frame. Not to mention the lack of sharp items in the pale room would have made it difficult even if he wasn't tied.

A thought entered his head. Sure he wouldn't be able to see the blood, but he would taste it. Naruto took in a deep breath and bit down on the fleshy muscle inside his mouth, hard. Sure it hurt like hell but it was working, he could taste a little bit of the metallic flavor in his mouth. He did it again, making sure to bite down on the same spot to draw more blood. He let out whine of distress as he rolled his head back and forth; alerting his roommate that something was amiss.

"What's wrong, idiot?" Sasuke asked in a bored tone, his back facing the blonde.

Naruto was breathing hard from holding his breath every time he would bite down, he hadn't even known he had made a noise, instead believing it was in his head.

"...it's nothing." He managed to answer, choosing to swallow his mouth full of blood. He sighed, letting his head rest on pillow provided, waiting for the sensations to over take his form. The blonde had to wait long, not having any water to stop the demon's chakra from healing the wound and instead used his saliva. It took about ten minutes until he felt like he was sinking, slowly losing power over his body and its actions. The idea had worked; he was being pulled in by the darkness but it was gray and shallow. The blonde would just have to wait some more, for the wonderful feeling he'd experience two times in the same day.

Sasuke tried to ignore his gut but it was telling him something was wrong. The blonde didn't even retaliate when Sasuke had called him out of his name. Naruto had been making a lot of noise over on his side of the room; shifting in the bed, panting, and whining- and now the blonde was quite. Too quite. Almost like Sasuke was in the room by himself. Naruto wasn't even snoring like he usually did when the team was camping on a mission, so he couldn't have fallen asleep. The raven haired boy was debating on turning over, taking a quick glance just to ease his nerves when the door opened. A nurse on the night shift smiled down at him, checking the tubes for air and reset the IV machine and after wrote a few notes on chart she was holding in the dim light of the nightlight.

She walked around Sasuke's bed, pulling the curtain some, out of habit, and Sasuke guessed to look at the blonde's IV poll too, like she had did with his. He heard a quick intake of air followed by the clattering of - what he believed to be- the chart she had been holding. Sasuke turned over and watched her dim shadow through the curtain as she stood at the end of Naruto's bed, gasping as her hands clutched her head in fear. She was muttering what sounded like a shallow prayer before running out of the room at full speed, noisily screaming for the head nurse and the doctors.

_'What had she seen'_, Sasuke wondered, slowly rising from his bed and reaching for the curtain, having a hard time ignoring the way his heart went to his throat. _'What had the woman seen to make her run like she had seen death?'_

Sasuke grabbed the thin fabric and jerked it toward the back wall, taking in a small breath himself - eyes widening, fingers turning white as he still held onto the curtain. He could feel the bile coming up.

_'It wasn't death she had seen but the closet thing to it.' _

Naruto's half open eyes were clouded and barely focused- pointed straight at the ceiling. His shoulders were sagging and his head sat oddly on his neck. The blonde's lips were painted crimson along with his chin as the blood spilled out of his mouth at a slow speed. His chest wasn't moving in the gentle rhythm it should have been, choosing to move much quicker. Naruto was dying right before his eyes.

More footsteps entered the room; the bright lights were flicked on. Another nurse pushed Sasuke back in bed, pulling the hanging fabric over to block the action and asked if he was alright.

'_How can I be alright? I just saw my teammate try to commit suicide!' _Sasuke wanted to shout at the older woman but refrained from doing so, he nodded shakily instead.

"Damn it!" a male doctor cursed from behind the curtain, "Don't shut off the machine, that blood supply is the only thing keeping him alive."

"Should we increase speed?" a woman asked.

"Yes, and someone get me a sedative to give him so he can't try this again."

Another nurse ran from the room in search of the drug, passing the raven haired boy's side. He was able to see the white latex gloves she was removing on her way were painted in that deep red.

Sasuke saw a green glow peek through the thin fabric, it must have been the medic nin's chakra healing what Sasuke believed to be Naruto's tongue. The woman next to Sasuke was trying to convince him everything was fine and quite frankly getting on his nerves. He was attempting to understand what was happening on the other side of the bright room his eyes weren't as lucky to see. The doctors spoke to one another in hurried manners, like they were trying to beat the clock. Nurses followed their orders before their sentences were completed. It seemed like it was so surreal to the Uchiha.

The nurse who had left earlier returned to the room, a needled syringe in hand as she disappeared to where his eyes couldn't follow her. The green chakra slowly dimmed down until there was no more of it and a sigh a relief came from one of their lips.

"Should we order more blood from downstairs?" a male asked.

"Yeah, do that. About two bags of it; he lost a lot even with his tongue already beginning to heal by itself." He sighed again, coming around the curtain to look at Sasuke. "I'm sorry about all the noise and excitement."

The raven haired boy didn't know what to say, they made it sound like it was a small issues, as if Sasuke had complained his neighbor was blasting the television too loud or something. Luckily the doctor wasn't expecting an answer and turned to leave -the nurse who had been sitting with Sasuke following right behind him- giving one last order to a nurse outside,

"Make sure you keep him on that sedative."

The bright lights hadn't been turned off although all the action had left. The quite had returned as if it had never left, except the new beeping coming from the blonde's heart monitor. It gave Sasuke a chance to think, a chance to wonder and most importantly, a chance to prepare for tomorrow.

"Alright," a short, round woman walked in wearing a nurse's aid uniform as she wheeled a laundry basket and held fresh sheets under her arm past the pale curtain and to Naruto's side of the room. "Let's get you all fresh, shall we?"

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Naruto hated this lazy, tried feeling, whatever drug they gave him, made him feel. It made the blonde feel powerless and that wasn't a feeling he wanted to feel when Kakashi and Iruka eyed him like this. With the curtain pulled away again even Sasuke was able to look at him. It wasn't the same worried expression as the older men, more blunt in curiosity.

He was trying to fight it, the fake sleep the drug put his body in, it was hard but he was doing it. Soon they would have to find something new to use anyway, the demon's chakra sometimes started to act like white blood cells, killing things it though would harmful to the body.

"Naruto, I would have said you go first and give me your explanation but it seems like the sedative they gave you is strong and is preventing you from talking."

The blonde focused his blue eyes on Kakashi; he glared as best he could, hoping it was getting the job done. Naruto was not in the mood for this crap.

"Go to hell." Naruto snarled.

"Naruto, how are you feeling?" Iruka asked, offering a weak smile to the blonde.

"Like shit." _'I wasn't even able to feel the darkness that time; my timing was off and luck was bad.' _ The blonde thought bitterly of the nurse that had first found him.

"That seems about right," Kakashi muttered to himself, turning his dark colored eye toward the raven haired boy. "Sasuke?"

The raven haired boy looked over to his team leader at the call of his name, glaring at him and turned to face the opposite wall. "It's none of your business."

Kakashi sighed, pulling out his orange book from his bag and opening it to where he left off. "It's not like I was expecting an answer from the two of you anyway."

He read silently to himself, ignoring the glares from the blonde and the brooding air coming off the raven haired boy. Iruka looked between the other three males, almost nervously, before excusing himself out of the room.

Naruto paid little attention to anything besides how heavy his eye lids felt. It would sometimes feel like his glaring eyes were becoming crossed. The blonde didn't want to blink because then it seemed like his eyes wouldn't open again. It was so uncomfortable; and how Kakashi would randomly peek over his book's spine at him made it seem like he waiting for Naruto to fall asleep. Every time he did and there eyes met Naruto would try to strength his scowl by tenfold but it just seemed to fall flat as Kakashi would smiled and continue reading his book.

This strange routine passed for minutes, and with every second Naruto felt his eyes closing little by little. He was soon even to weak to give a dirty look, instead choosing to just keep watch.

'_Why am I fighting this again?' _Naruto wondered to himself. _'Maybe this will be just like when I bleed; that wonderful darkness over taking me.' _

Kakashi snapped his book shut as the blonde's eyes closed, the light snoring coming from his mouth confirming how deep it was. He moved his eye over to Sasuke's back; even he was gently shifting in slumber.

The door slid open and Kakashi greeted Iruka with a wave as well as the Hokage.

"Ah, I came too late, then?"

Kakashi nodded, looking back over to his two students.

"I can't enter my team in the chuunin exam without my _whole _team there, Hokage sama." Kakashi said, paying no attention to Iruka's shocked expression.

"Ah, is it what Iruka said that prevents you from doing so?" The old man smiled, "I have no intention of stopping Naruto be a ninja."

"But, Hokage sama!" Iruka yelled, flinching when Sasuke moved under his blankets. "Naruto is not mentally stable to be in an atmosphere like that, and even if he was his not strong enough. Sasuke is barely making it, himself and Sakura doesn't have the strength."

"Iruka," The old man fixed the chuunin with his eyes, "To be a ninja is the only thing Naruto was to look forward to. Taking it away from him is not what our priority should be, finding the true problem underneath is."

"Yes, Hokage sama, I apologize." The brunette looked toward the floor.

"Kakashi, go ahead and enter them in, if that is what you chose to do. These two will be out by then." The Hokage turned toward the door but stopped to say one more thing before he left. "I'll ask _her_ to come by and see if she can figure out what's going on in Naruto's head, alright?" He smiled at Iruka as he continued out.

Kakashi pocketed his book went to follow the village leader and flicked off the lights behind him. "See, Iruka, I knew it would all work out."

"That's funny; you didn't agree or disagree with me earlier about my idea for Naruto. Now you throw out how much you want to enter them in the next exam!" Iruka lingered on his one-sided argument all the way out the door.

-------------------------

Finally out the hospital and off those weird drugs the demon's chakra didn't even have time to attack, Naruto knew exactly what he wanted to do. Run straight to the ramen stand. The hospital food was so bland and disgusting he couldn't even explain it. Though it had to wait. First the blonde had to see a woman that wanted to talk to him. The idea of this lady wanting to talk to him didn't annoy him, what annoyed Naruto was what he knew she wanted to talk about and who she probably was. A psychologist.

He entered an office looking room two men had shown him too. There was a large chair facing him with a small wooden table sitting next to it. A long couch that somewhat look like a bed facing the chair. Yeah, it was a psychologist's office.

"Are you just going to stand there or are going to sit down?"

The voice came from behind him, a female's voice. Naruto turned to face it and was surprised to be faced with large breast almost touching his nose. His tanned face turned red as he jumped away. From further away he could see her much better. A blonde, brown eyed, tall female that looked more pissed than friendly.

"You should really watch your manners." She muttered, throwing on a pair of small glasses as she sat in her chair, one leg over the other.

"You were right behind me, it wasn't my felt!" the blonde pointed out.

"Uh, whatever, it doesn't matter anyway. Just sit down so we can start this.

Naruto did as he was told, hoping to end their session just as quickly.

"Your name is Naruto Uzumaki, correct?" He nodded. "My name is Tsunade, let's get started."

Her smile was proof that she was thinking of other things she could have been doing but Naruto just smiled right back, giving little to no attention to what would be happing in the woman's office. His mind was busy thinking of the large bowl of ramen he was going to eat and even, perhaps ironic, of the color of his blood running over his wrist.

----------------------------------

TBC….

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It wasn't beta-ed and there may be a handful of mistakes so if you see any just let me know and I'll fix it up.

Hope you enjoyed it, please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Echoing Footsteps

By: CagedRaven

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Chapter 3

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Tsunade eyed the young teenager in front of her as he joked about lying down on the chair, even slipped off his sandals so he could be more comfortable.

"Ah," he sighed happily, "It _is _just like a bed!"

She watched him roll from side to side, coming close to falling off, and sighed. _'I could really use a drink…' _The woman thought bitterly as she cleared her throat to catch Naruto's attention. He sat up straight, legs crossed and blue eyes on her as if he had been trained from birth.

"You're not here to play, Naruto." He nodded, "Why don't you tell me what's been going on these last few" her brown eyes glanced at the paperwork sitting on her lap. "months. Kakashi said - that he knew of - he was the first to find out about your problem."

"Yeah, he was." Naruto agreed. "Nothing _new_ has been going on lately, just the same old crap."

"The villagers?"

He nodded again, letting his eyes drop to his hands.

"What are some of the things they do?"

The blonde looked up at her, holding her eyes for a minute and then let them fall again, "You wouldn't understand."

"I'm here trying to understand. You just have to let me in."

Tsunade gave a weak huff of breath when he didn't say anything. She took off her reading glasses and laid them on top of his file on her table. There were many of things she could be doing right now instead of entertaining this brat. Drinking, gambling, and then there were her other physically damaged and mentally ill patients. She looked at him again after rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Naruto, are you so scared of living?" Maybe just asking straight out would be the best thing?

The blonde looked at her, the blue shade of his eyes had turned dimmer and his brows lowered.

"Why are people scared of dying?" Naruto said aloud, answering her question with one of his own. "I mean, most people are scared because they don't want to be forgotten, right? They're scared of feeling pain? So does it make me crazy for not caring if people don't remember me? Does it make me insane because I tried to bring my life to an end a couple of times? Does it make me unstable because I love to watch my blood leave my body - love the feeling of being in the dark?" he was yelling at her now but Tsunade merely picked up his papers when he was done ranting to make some more notes.

"Yes," Her brown met his blue, "That is why you are here."

An empty smile returned to Naruto's face as he rubbed the back of his head. It was as if his real emotions had never spilled out. "I guess so, huh?"

She watched him some more in silence as he babbled on continuously about how hungry he was. Tsunade had a feeling she wasn't getting the whole truth about this case. Perhaps the three men that had told her he was suicidal hadn't exactly hit nail on the head quite yet. Naruto seemed to have many layers.

The older woman looked at her watch and was surprised their session had only a few minutes until it finished.

"You should put back on your shoes, time is up." She smiled.

Naruto returned it, this time the smile had reached his ears. He pulled on his blue sandals and waved happily as he made his way to the door.

"I want to see you next week too."

"What! I have to see you again?" he yelled.

"As many times as I want you too."

It was then that Tsunade saw another layer; Naruto's understanding was clear in his blue orbs. One more set of eyes were going to be watching him.

----------------------

The young blonde made his way down the street, casually resting his hands behind his head. His eyes held little emotion as his ears took in the sounds of village life. Naruto daydreamed as his feet took him toward his destination, imaging how his blood would spit into the air if he stabbed himself with a kunai; how the darkness would overtake him once he submerged the wound. Just the thought of it all had him drooling for it; too bad Kakashi sensei took all his weapons away.

"Hello Naruto, what can I get for you today?" The old man named Ichikaru behind the ramen stand asked with a smile. The blonde was his number one costumer and he hadn't seen Naruto around as of late.

"The usual." Naruto returned the smile, sitting on one of the stools.

The man nodded, turning his back to the young ninja as he began making the bowl of noodles. "Have you been on a mission? I haven't seen you around the village."

"…Something like that." Naruto answered, not really paying attention. The blonde began humming to himself, toying absently with a pair of wooden chopsticks he took from the jar in front of him.

'_Maybe he doesn't want to talk about it.'_ Ichikaru thought to himself as he poured the broth into the bowl along with the noodles. He placed it down in front of the blonde and smiled as Naruto dug into the meal. The small eyes on his wrinkled face looked up as someone else walked in and took a seat next to the young blonde.

"What can I get for you, Iruka?" He smiled.

"Uh," He hadn't planed on eating but ordered beef ramen after receiving a glare from the old man. The brunette assumed he could give it to Naruto to eat.

"Iruka sensei, I didn't know you would be here today. Man, you could have let me know, my meal could have been your treat." Naruto said sarcastically, having had a feeling someone was trailing him.

The blonde's old teacher smiled and patted his hair, "Don't worry, I'll still pay." Iruka let his smile drop, contemplating on whether or not he should ask what he wanted to. _'It won't hurt.'_ He thought.

"Naruto, how'd your session with Tsunade go?"

His blue eyes focused on his old teacher, not in hesitation but in puzzlement. "Isn't that supposed to be confidential?"

Iruka blushed with embarrassment, he had been unconsciously hoping the blonde won't have understood that. "Yeah, I guess that's right."

Naruto filled his mouth with the delicious noodles again and swallowed before cracking a small smile, "Nah, I'll tell you. Although, there's not to tell… She just asked a bunch of question and soon I was out the door."

"That's all?"

"That's all." Naruto nodded, blowing off the steam to his next mouthful.

"Here you go, one beef flavored ramen." Ichikaru said as he placed the hot bowl in front of Iruka.

"…Thank you."

---------------

'_You know, Sasuke, you can always close your eyes to things you don't want to see but you can't close you heart to things you don't want to feel.' _Sakura thought with a frown on her face, chin held in the palms of her hands as her bottom sat on an uplifted root. '_Why doesn't he pay me any attention? I've tried talking to him; asked him where he and Naruto had been for the past two weeks.' _ Sakura sighed in exhaustion as the past fourteens days of training all alone with Kakashi sensei invaded her brain. The pink haired preteen had been forced to actually sweat_ buckets_, more than she already did. When the time was up she got home and even fell asleep in the shower because she was so worn out, her favorite red dress and blue cropped shorts were no better.

Pulling her wide green eyes away from her brooding crush, Sakura looked over the blonde, his back facing both herself and Sasuke. His head seemed to be pointed down to his feet, almost like he was thinking. She also laughed right out at that thought. _'Naruto and thinking don't belong in the same sentence.'_

A flash of her teammate laying in the rain and muddy grass entered her mind and stopped her next muffled giggle. Had Naruto really been sleeping then? Kakashi's stern words with the blonde didn't make it seem as such.

"Hey, Naruto?" Sakura called out to said boy. He turned around quickly, like he had forgotten he wasn't by himself. She hesitated herself before asking, "Where were you two last week and the week before that?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, letting a huge smile consume his face. "I don't know about that loser but I just wasn't feeling all that well, think it was the rotten milk I drank."

Naruto ignored the peering eyes coming from his rival but Sakura noticed her crush's look.

"I went by your apartment many times though, and you never answered the door."

"I was living on the toilet, Sakura, and when I wasn't there I was on Iruka's toilet." He laughed. Sakura blanched and growled in disgust, looking away from him with her nose scrunched up as if she had smelled something awful.

"What about you Sasuke?" Naruto asked the raven haired boy, distracting Sakura's attention from himself.

"Yes, Sasuke, were you sick too? Maybe a bug's going around…" The blonde could all but see the hearts shifting in her pale forest inspired eyes.

Sasuke ignored her, instead focusing his dark eyes on Naruto. Why had he lied; what could possibly be his reasoning behind it; was he embarrassed? An idea made its way into Sasuke's brain; perhaps his teammate didn't want to seem anything but idiotic and the prankster of the village. Sasuke believed he just walked into Naruto's latest secret, if anything it was blackmail. If he told his teammate about Naruto's attempt at suicide then Sakura would know he had been in the hospital as well. Kakashi had been kind enough to keep it private; the raven haired boy actually enjoyed the time he spent without a girl always watching his every move. It wasn't only that that kept him from sharing the news, but also the fact that he didn't feel like talking, much less about his own problems.

"… Maybe a bug _is_ going around…"

"Oh, I'm going to have to make sure I stay well." Sakura chimed in, standing from her seat and walking a little closer to her crush hoping to pull a few more words out of his mouth.

Naruto smiled wider, turning his back on the two once more and continuing what he had been doing. He watched as his finger nail slid over his wrist repeatedly, causing a pink line to form on his tanned skin. His blue eyes were clouded over once sable red cascaded from the surface wound he created with a jagged edge. Small drops dyed his skin crimson as stinging pain shot from the site. Naruto pushed it away until the pain was barely noticeable, if he had ever really noticed it to begin with.

Just looking at the red liquid would have to be enough for now, no matter how much he wanted to feel the darkness around him. Any drop of blood was swallowed by the green grass before the wound was healed, leaving not a scar in its wake.

'_Just in time too.'_ He thought; hearing a popping sound and smelling the smoke as Kakashi entered their area. The blonde turned to welcome him with a smile, just to through him off, as Sakura glared at his tardiness.

"You're late again, Kakashi sensei!" She huff, gripping her hips. "What's your excuse this time?"

Their teacher eyed his three students carefully and cleared his throat before he spoke, "I was getting the papers you three would need for next week."

So used to shouting at him, Sakura jammed an index finger into Kakashi's masked face and screamed, "Liar!" The pink haired genin didn't even listen to a word he said.

Kakashi brushed her off and pulled out three slips of paper. Sakura was the first to be handed one, then Sasuke, and Naruto was last. The blonde glanced over its words and turned back to his teacher when he began talking.

"This is an entrance from to the chuunin exam, I have already mentioned you would be there but the Hokage will need each of your signatures to confirm it." He continued on, going into further detail about the exam and what it could mean for them but Naruto didn't hear it, and Sasuke barely did. Their thoughts strayed onto two different paths; the former thinking of nothing but the blood he'd see and the chances he'd get to spill his own. The latter's brain was filled with the idea of his strength being great and him getting closer to his one and only goal, revenge. Their diverse paths were made by the anticipation as it coursed through the two rival's veins.

-------

Naruto walked down the streets of Konoha happily, his already signed slip folded into his pocket with his hand protecting it. He was headed home, fully aware that _someone_ would be waiting for him, timing him. This didn't stop his slow pace today. Any other day the blonde would have been running at his fastest speed, but today was different. Today he _wanted_ to see what he had been ignoring in life.

He didn't give the glares villagers threw his way a second glance, or their children that looked on in puzzlement. Why was he so special? Why was everyone watching him? Why were all the adults' angry? These were just a few of the questions he guess the children were wondering, and they would continue to wonder and question about the topic of Naruto but not one person would receive and answer. All thanks to the law passed by the third Hokage.

Naruto's blue eyes followed the wind blowing stray leaves for fun, and carrying the scent of homemade cooking. His ears picked up on the sounds of distant playing, whining, and maybe even beginners in the ninja world practicing how to throw a punch with a friend. It was something he envied; he had never experienced the things they were now experiencing. The sudden thought rid him of all his happiness; his eyes stung with tears he refused to let fall. Depressing thoughts entered his mind, making a home in the center and all the corners. _'Why me?' _he thought, removing his hand from pocket and gripping the loose orange jacket over his stomach. _'Why did I have to house this fucking fox?'_ he felt a tear seep through his tightly closed eye lids and hated himself more for it. _'Why couldn't it be someone else?'_

His hands dug past the thick fabric and into his skin, he wanted it to hurt, to bruise. The blonde told himself the pain was why he was crying, not the lost of a childhood.

----------

Tsunade gathered the last of her work papers, placing them into a green folder and desk. She grabbed a white lab coat, flicked off the ceiling light and grabbed her ring of keys by the door frame before walking out her office. Making sure to lock it for the night, she walked the length of the hall, the clicking of her heels bouncing off the cream painted walls. She was relaxed but could still go for a drink or two of sake. _'I can't wait to open up that bottle I have at home!'_ she grinned, about to round the corner.

"Hey," She started, not prepared for someone to be standing there as it had been so quite. She smoothed out her appearance so fast that the person didn't notice.

"Hey, yourself. What are you doing out so late? You should get home, Naruto." Tsunade said, a frown growing. _'Wasn't someone suppose to be watching him, how'd he get here?'_

"I'm going now, Iruka has probably called Kakashi sensei and the Hokage by now," since he was hours late, "Their all running around like chickens with their heads cut off hopping I didn't end my life."

Tsunade took a mental note; he seemed to have more to say now than earlier. "Are you so sure?"

He nodded, "Yeah, how do you think I got here without no one seeing, I had to bypass them all. Kakashi sensei was the hardest but I think he still saw me." He grinned at the thought of his moving bush disguise. "Oh, but I just wanted to let you know about one thing. You said you wanted to see me next week, right?"

The curvy blonde nodded, moving her items from one hand to the next and shifted her weight. "I sure did."

"Well, something came up and I can't go."

"_Can't._" She repeated.

"Yeah, you see Kakashi sensei entered my team into the chuunin exam and it starts next week."

Her brown eyes widened as she took a step back, "The chuunin exam?"

"That's what he said." Naruto smiled weakly. "Well, that's it. I better get the move on before I'm thrown under house arrest or something. G'bye!" He waved his hand as his feet began to move toward the exit she had once been going to herself. Changing her mind, Tsunade walked back toward her office, unlocked her door and pulled out the green folder holding her new case and an old one. Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha they were both on the same team, team seven.

"These two boys don't need to be in the chuunin exam." She exhaled, running a hand through one of her silky ponytails. Should she say something to her old teacher or let it run its course? She stole glances at the blank paper sitting on the edge of her desk, begging to be written on. The woman sighed before grabbing a pen after ten more minutes of contemplating. "I'll write a letter to you, old man. Hopefully, you'll get it by the morning and also pull team seven out of this year's exam."

'_In my professional opinion,'_ she read in her head as she began her first line after greetings. _'I do not see Sasuke Uchiha or Naruto Uzumaki fit for the up and coming Chuunin exam.'_

She tapped the pen against the paper, thinking of the best words to make him agree with her. The blonde woman soon gave up and just wrote whatever came to mind (staying clear away from the remembered sake that was haunting her). Her letter was two pages long, explaining Sasuke's mental state and Naruto's still mysterious one. She also added in her opinion on the last team member, whoever it was. If two out of three members of team seven needed to see her then chances were so did the last one.

"I hope you listen to me this time." She whispered to herself, sealing the letter. She put everything back where it had been, grabbed her white lab coat, her ring of keys by the door frame and remember to lock her office for the night.

------------

_TBC…_

_------------- _

_A/N:_ I'm so sorry about the long wait for an update. I had become sick and also studying for my SAT, so sitting behind a computer was the last thing on my mind. I feel much better now and hopefully will be writing more to this story as well as my others.

_P.s._ I just want to say thank you to all the reviewers who have commented on my story so far, makes me feel great. Thank you to all the readers who clicked the favorite button also.

_Quote for Naruto:_

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.

By- Herm Albright


	4. Chapter 4

Echoing Footsteps

By: CagedRaven

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Chapter 4

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The blonde exited the building cautiously, looking to his left and right multiple times before setting his feet on the grassless ground. He sprinted from shadow to shadow, making sure to keep his senses open just in case he was being followed. Naruto used little to no chakra in his feet, fearing that someone like Kakashi or Iruka may recognize it.

He jumped into a tree's leaves and waited for two ninja he didn't know to walk around the next streets corner before continuing his movements. _'I hope they weren't looking for me…'_ he thought nervously, jumping onto a gray roof and proceeded to run across the length of it. He continued to do this, leaping over streets and ally ways, staying to the roofs of random households. His blue eyes scanned the open area as he ran silently in the direction of his own home. Naruto hesitated taking his next step, pondering if he should really go there. He was sure someone would be waiting for him there, just in case he did return. The worse would be that all three men who worried over him would scold him, and that wasn't so bad.

'_But, if I was able to get away from them this time, can I honestly say I can do it again next time?' _The blonde folded his arms as he tried to answer his own question. _'Probably not… they'll up my "body guards," maybe ask the old man to have Anbu tail me about the village or something.' _Naruto fatefully believed this to be the truth. He would just have to make the best of the time he had left to be free. With that in mind, Naruto turned left, fleeing to the training grounds.

The wind his speed created ruffled his hair and glided over his tanned skin; his bright blue eyes shined with pleasure as a joyous smile overtook his face. It felt foreign, making the skin around his mouth pull tightly and tingle. The blonde paid it little attention, maintaining his speed and low chakra.

Amused as some of the people in the homes he passed over peeked out their widows and opened their doors, probably hearing his footsteps on the roofs. As funny as Naruto believed it was he needed to find a quieter path. What if the villagers started to complain to random ninja's and he was discovered? He leaped into a tree, pausing for a moment to catch his breath and he plotted out his next move.

'_The closest training ground is just west of here, all I need is to keep to the shadows and hopefully no one will see me.'_ He thought.

A snapping sound echoed in his ears. His sharp eyes faced the noise immediately, peering into the dark night. Someone was trailing him? They were pretty bad if they were making that much noise… but then again he hadn't heard them before nor sensed them. Did his shadow chaser want him to know he's there?

The blonde let out a low growl in frustration as he began to move again. Choosing a different pattern in his movements as he tried to shake the person off. It was difficult seeing as the ninja was silent again, or maybe he had succeeded? His jaw set as many options enter his mind, many of which he believed could be true.

'_What if it's Kakashi sensei tailing me or Iruka?_'

Naruto started to feel cornered; if it was indeed either of them then his one night of freedom was already cut short. He needed to move faster! _'Faster!'_ he mentally screamed at himself, pushing more energy and chakra into his legs and feet. He kept moving forward, his eyes closed in concentration.

'_In front?'_ he shouted, bewildered as a sudden chakra spark come from the trees before him. Blue eyes popped open, scanning the area quickly as his body moved instinctively moved to his right. Suddenly the training grounds didn't sound so appealing. He needed to find a hiding place for himself and quick.

His sandal covered feet landed on a rooftop once more and with less care as he moved as fast as he could to the next building. Villagers screamed into the night, complaining about the noise as his hunters followed his pathway.

'_Wait, doesn't Sasuke live in this area or something?'_ he wondered to himself in a hurry. _'Saskura-chan always used to tell me too, I should start listening more!'_ he scolded himself.

What he hoped to be a small group of ninja behind him started to catch up, or maybe he was slowing down from exhaustion. His lungs were working hard and his heart was beating strongly in his chest. Strangely enough the feeling reminded him of when he was losing too much blood – but now was not the time to think of such things.

'_I think that's his house…_' Naruto peeked behind himself, seeing no one there but he still believed the ninja to be there. _'I'll have to lose them first.'_

-------

Sasuke let the towel lay on top of his thick locks as he made his way to the refrigerator in his small, unused kitchen. He picked up a bottle of water, letting the light from inside shine in the dark space as he took a couple of gulps. His dark brown eyes spotted the plastic medicine bottles on his counter and unconsciously he looked at the clock over the stove. It was about that time… Looking back at the bottle in his hands, Sasuke placed it on the refrigerator's inside door and let the light fade out as he closed the door, walking back to his bedroom. He almost made it when there was a knock at the door.

The pounding noise startled him; he was so inexperienced with it. It was late on top of that, and the only person he could think of it being was Kakashi. _'He's not spying on me is he?'_ Sasuke scowled, making his way toward the door.

Harsh knocking proceeded followed with muttered curses making the raven hair boy believe it was someone else. He knitted his brows, _'What the hell is _he_ doing here?'_

Sasuke flung the door wide open, making his blonde teammate jump back.

"What?"

"Sasuke, I wanted to know if I could stay over for the night because some ninja are chasing me." Naruto rubbed the back of his head and let a huge smile take over his face.

"No." He shut the door as soon as the one syllable word was over his tongue, leaving the blonde in front of the door.

Naruto stood there for a few moments, having not completely realized what had just happened. When it all came together and he saw the door was closed he started his banging on the door once more. He screamed at the Uchiha, calling him any sorts of names he could think up and continued to do so until Sasuke finally let him in after neighbors started complaining and the blonde still wouldn't go away.

"Oh, wow, I don't think I've ever been to your house before, Sasuke." His blue eyes looked all around the area. "Actually, it doesn't look that much bigger than my own…"

"Is there a reason why you're here?" Sasuke asked, throwing the towel in his bathroom.

"I told you, ninja were chasing me and I needed to hide out for the night. No one would ever think I would be at your place." Naruto pouted, sitting down on living room couch. Sasuke glared; he couldn't believe the idiot was getting all comfortable.

"Just for tonight, please?" Naruto tried his hardest to beg but it came out more like a demand.

'_It's too late for this shit,'_ the raven haired boy sighed in agitation, sitting in the chair across from the blonde. "Do whatever you want; you just better not make a mess."

Naruto couldn't believe he had givin' in so easily but didn't question it. _'I shouldn't push my luck, next thing I know he'll be kicking me out again.'_

They sat in silence, the only sound coming from a clock, marking the seconds that were passing, in the next room. The blonde had even started counting with it, giving himself something to do that required little thinking and would hopefully bore him enough into sleep. Before that could happen, he had reached two hundred, and tried to start a conversation.

"So…" His eyes moved over to his teammate. "Oh! Uh, why were you in the hospital before?" He had almost forgotten about that.

Sasuke rolled his eyes away from the ceiling to the boy across from him. "Why were you there?"

Naruto gave a weak smile, "Didn't you see why?"

The raven haired boy didn't say anything, hesitating for a moment before asking, "When did it start?"

Naruto sighed, letting himself fall deeper into the soft cushion, "A while ago. But it's not what everybody thinks… well, maybe it is – I don't know."

"What do think everyone believes it is then, and what makes it different?"

"Why do you care?" Naruto threw out.

"I don't, but obviously a few people do."

The blonde ran a hand over his face, pushing hair back and looked past Sasuke as he tried to think of a way to describe what he felt whenever any object cut throw his flesh. On the table in front of him sat the Uchiha's kunai hostler and a few lose weapons… mocking him.

"The villagers have never liked me; they have always hated the fact that I even exist." He said aloud in a hollow voice. "I had found out a while ago that instead of pulling pranks and causing them more reasons to hate me, if I hurt myself I felt a little better."

"So the more you hurt yourself the better you feel." Sasuke muttered as if he was starting to understand.

"No." Their eyes met; one pair holding confusion in it's dark orbs. "I started to realize I loved the color of blood. The feel I get when I was losing it and how it grew stronger when I put my wounds in water." Blue eyes returned to the sharp metal weapon in front of him; he didn't know his body was slowly inching towards it. "It's that great feeling I was consumed by and now I think I live just to experience it again and again and again. The villagers' glares are a weak reason to tell other people I want to die when in truth I want to continue to live… or maybe not. I could careless which ever way my life goes."

The Uchiha picked up the hostler without even realizing it and eyed the blonde more closely. "You make it sound as though you get high off it."

"…Maybe I do." Naruto frowned, looking at his rival's right hand. The kunai were hidden from his eyes and sadly his lust for them continued to grow. He tried to think of something else, seeing as how Sasuke wasn't going to help him out. "So, what's your deal?"

"It's none of your business."

The blonde growled, "I told you my story so now you've got to share yours!"

"There's no story to share, idiot."

"Lair! Kakashi sensei was worried about you too. I know you have a story, it's probably just so embarrassing that you'd die if you didn't share it." He tried to tease the raven haired boy but Sasuke wouldn't say anything.

"Fine, If you're not going to say anything can I have that back?" he pointed to the kunai holster still held in his grasp.

"No; that's all I need for you to go and kill yourself in my apartment _with_ my kunai. I'll be thrown in jail for killing a fellow leaf ninja."

"Or, be praised for killing the d-" Naruto stopped himself short; he was getting to comfortable in this conversation. "The noisy orphan."

Sasuke eyed him; of course he saw the blonde's slip up. Instead of questioning it he just sighed and placed the kunai's onto the chair beside himself. "My story is I don't like taking my mood stabilizers."

Naruto raised a brow, "What the hell are those?"

"I have bipolar disorder, my pills are supposed to even me out and (I guess) make me act normally. I don't like taking them because they seem to make me forget my purpose…"

"Which is?" _'God, it's like pulling out teeth, just spit it out already!'_

"Now that is really none of your business." His eyes became hard, killer intent clear in them but Naruto knew it wasn't pointed at himself, somehow he just knew. So the last Uchiha had a deep secret just like himself. Naruto wondered if Sasuke's demon was as real as his own.

"You were in the hospital because you didn't want to take your pills? That's kind of lame, Sasuke. I thought it was something big, like me. You were right, not much of a story." The blonde continued to tease- ignoring the other boy's glares. "But hey, I have a plan forming." He pointed to his forehead as if pointing out that very plan.

"_You_ have a plan- about what?"

"During the chuunin exam, if you don't tell Kakashi sensei that I was cutting myself – cause I know I will be, not around Saskura though, I can't trust her to keep quiet – I won't tell him you weren't taking you drugs." Naruto grinned, "Like you didn't tonight."

Sasuke glared harder, "How could you tell?"

"You gave up too quickly and you really seem to care – not at all Sasuke behavior. Does it get more noticeable?"

"I don't really know, people start to act differently around me so I guess it does." Sasuke mumbled, thinking about naruto's idea. They most likely would be on their own for the exam so it might actually work…

"Ok, fine. During the exam if you get too cut happy I'll stop you-"

"And if you get just too _happy_, I'll stop you." Naruto smiled.

"It's a deal." They said in unison.

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The sun was peeking through the early morning clouds, the air was cool, and the village was slowly starting to wake up. A light breeze made its way through the green leaves of the trees surrounding the village and some of them lost their strength to hold onto the branches, being carried in the wind. The voices of the working villagers bounced off the buildings' walls, soft giggles and booming laughter was heard; children running threw the streets to playgrounds and adults talking among themselves. All were oblivious to the grey cloud hanging over Iruka's head.

'_We've looked everywhere he normally goes!'_ the academy teacher shouted in his head. He started to name the places on a list in his mind. _'The ramen stand, the training grounds, I'm at his house, all the weapon shops in the village (just in case he got any ideas), and just around the village in general! Kakashi even went out of the Kanoha to see if Naruto was in the surrounding area.'_ The man cursed under his breath. Once he _did_ find the blonde he was going to give Naruto a piece of his mind.

Iruka looked out the window, up into the blue sky where a few almost transparent clouds were being pushed slowly by the wind. _'I hope you're really okay, Naruto…'_

He stood there for a while, letting his mind wander. He thought over all the locations once more, wondering if he missed any. He remembered some of the ninja the Hokage ordered to look for blonde (claiming he was up to n good again, so they wouldn't have to know about his suicide attempts) that had said they spotted him but he managed to lose them. Though the idea of a new ninja losing 'experienced' ones bothered him at least he knew Naruto was alive – _was_. Sadly, the teacher didn't know if that was still the case.

"Yo," Kakashi saluted Iruka through the windowsill. The brunette waved, moving over so the jounin could climb in the blonde's apartment.

"Did you find him?" '_That was a stupid question,'_ Iruka thought to himself, he could see the man was alone.

"No," Kakashi shook him head. "But I did go over to Sasuke's place, checked on him." Iruka didn't want to seem harsh but he couldn't careless, Kakashi saw this but continued. "When I arrived Sasuke was just taking his medicine, which is good."

"He's doing what he has to do, finally." Iruka sighed out, wondering if there was a point to the other man's story.

"The interesting part was Sasuke seemed… nervous. Made me believe he hadn't taken his pills earlier in the day. But that may not be the case, I have a feeling Naruto was there."

Iruka rolled his eyes, "I just can't see that happening."

"No, but Sasuke doesn't normally strike me as the sort of fellow to eat a lot before bed, besides all of it was empty ramen bowels." Kakashi went into further detail after Iruka questioned him more. The jounin explained the grocery bags and, further more, the mess in the raven haired boy's living room when it was normally very clean.

"Yeah, Naruto could have been there…" Iruka muttered, looking around the blonde's living quarters and seeing everything Kakashi had just mentioned. He looked in the direction of the boy's room when a soft _thump_ was heard. Kakashi had too so he knew he didn't image it.

The too made their way to the closed bedroom door and threw it open. There was the blonde, lying on his back with his mouth wide open as soft snores escaped. Naruto was back, sound asleep – most likely staying awake the whole night. Iruka let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

"We should tell the Hokage he returned." Kakashi nodded, volunteering to go after seeing the look on Iruka's face.

Once the brunette heard the jounin exit the blonde's home he made his way toward Naruto. His fists shaking with anger as he tried to hold himself back from striking the sleeping student.

'_I should be happy he's back and alive.'_ He thought to himself.

"Hmm," Naruto said in his sleep. "Big… boobs…"

Iruka growled as he yelled at the blonde, waking him up with a punch to the face.

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TBC

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Hope you liked it everyone! Please leave comments.


	5. Chapter 5

Echoing Footsteps

By: CagedRaven

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Chapter 5

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It felt so good, the touch of cool steel slicing over his leg up to his knee. His blue eyes watched the crimson blood spill down his limb. It was – what was the word he was looking for? - intoxicating. He wanted more; wanted to see more, feel more run down his skin, watch it mix with the lake and slowly turn the water a dull red.

He pulled the weapon from his flesh and stabbed it in again, repeating this action multiple times. Suppressing a hiss of pain when he felt it hit his bone; he let the sharpened metal hit the ground. His hands were covered in crimson liquid and his leg was no better. Submerging the wounded leg deeper into the lake, he clutched his jaw as the demon's chakra fought against the water. As the stinging lessened and the sluggish feeling started to overtake his body and mind a lifeless chuckle escaped his throat - his body falling into the muddy land under the water.

"I'll let it go all the way this time…" He thought aloud. "I don't want to wake up after this."

His name was being called, it was distant but he could hear it.

"Leave me alone." He muttered, the water entering his mouth some.

Again, the distant voice called. Except this time it was a little closer.

"Go away."

"Naruto!"

"Shut up!" he sounded like he was begging now, his hands pulling at the hair and his head shaking back and forth.

He didn't want help; he didn't want to be found. The only thing he wanted right now was to was sleep…

His head slowly stopped shaking; his arms fell beneath the water's surface. His blue eyes were not as bright and his head was sinking. Yeah, this was what he wanted, death to come quickly.

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"Naruto?"

It had been Sakura who had been calling him awake. Her annoying poking to his forehead protector was just as bad as Iruka beating him that morning. Naruto didn't get much sleep that night - having been running around and whatnot – so he was taking a nap under a tree as team seven waited for their sensei (who was always late). The blonde thought he would have had enough time to catch a few Z's.

Naruto swatted her hand away, "What?"

She crossed her arms, "I was only waking you 'cause Kakashi sensei is here!"

His blue eyes looked pass her and their other teammate, Sasuke, to the teacher. Kakashi waved, looking over his orange book with his one revealed eye. The way his eye looked into the blonde's and the way Sasuke slightly shook his head; the way his hand unconsciously clamped over his leg where his fake wound would have been at the sound of Kakashi's name and the way Sakura's green orbs looked at him. They all told him that two out the three people knew what he had been dreaming of.

-------

As much as she didn't want to enter the chuunin exam she knew she had to; for her team, for Sasuke's attention, and lastly for herself…she guessed. That's what her parents said anyway. But that was a lie, if it had only been for herself she would not have entered, just like she wished.

The chuunin exam sounded like a death wish the more she heard about it. In the text books describing it- with ever year a number of deaths was quoted as if it a village was filled with pride that the number box was blank. If the box even had a one its citizens would not cry for the life that was lost but the lost of respect.

Sakura hoped she wouldn't be the one to disgrace her village and her people.

As she walked to the building where team seven was suppose to meet her thoughts moved from one thing to the other: should head back home and hide under her blankets – giving up her role as a ninja or enter the chuunin exam and leave it all up to fate and prayed she made it out alright.

"Sakura," It was a barely noticeable greeting from the last Uchiha but her ears were more then sensitive to the sound of his voice. With a weak smile she took this as fate answering her private dilemma. "Welcome the damn exam with open arms!" it screamed.

The pink haired teen listened, walking over to her two teammates. Her crush nodded his head slightly, answering to her hearty wave while the blonde continued to look down the road, as if waiting for something. Sasuke jabbed him in the ribs, grabbing the blonde's attention quickly.

"Hey Sakura, I was looking for you!" The blonde smiled. The girl noticed his smile was big, like it had been once before until it started to dim a little. She was happy he was getting back to himself, and was even happier that she came to witness his happy change for herself. Her lips turned up, his smile was contagious. Green eyes made their way from blue to black; she also noted how the Uchiha shook his head, mumbled something under his breath and pulled Naruto to the door, motioning for her to follow. The small smile and barely noticeable gain in courage fell as she realized the exam would start sooner with every step they took.

They entered the building, Sakura dragging her sandaled feet behind and Naruto still being dragged. The closeness the two boys on her team seemed to gain over night was odd but more thoughts crowded her brain and she had little time to contemplate their sudden friendship, her thoughts being too occupied on staying alive.

The loud talking and confusion entered her ears as they came to the floor they were directed to. It was enough to even lessen the smile Naruto wore down to a questionable grin.

Two young boys guarded a door numbered three hundred and one, the one they were suppose to enter. _'But… that shouldn't be the door…'_ Sakura thought to herself.

"What'd you say?" The one with bandages on both his cheeks and chin asked, his eyes narrowed toward a boy. "Listen, this is our kindness you're seeing. The Chuunin exam isn't easy… even we have failed it three straight times. Those that have taken this exam ended up quitting, those that died… well," Here he paused, letting the meaning sink into the small group surrounding the door. "We've seen it all.

"We're just thinning out those that will fail anyway. What's so wrong with that?" The bandaged boy's teammate nodded in agreement, eyeing the crowd as harshly as his friend.

"I agree but," All eyes moved to the back where team seven stood, focusing on Sasuke. "You will let us through and remove this genjutsu you surrounded us with." No one seemed to understand him, shrugging his shoulders Sasuke turned back toward the stairs, dragging Naruto again with him. "I'm going to the third floor."

"Huh," the two leaf ninjas smirked. "So you noticed." Sasuke returned it.

Sakura nodded, "Yeah, I noticed this two, Sasuke. It's only the second floor."

The blonde just nodded his head slightly, as if he wasn't too sure what he was agreeing to. Naruto was never the smartest team member but Sakura was started to become concerned.

The genjutsu was dropped, showing the sign to be two hundred and one instead of three hundred and one. The boy with the bandages looked ready for a fight, "Not too bad, but all you did was see through it!" with that he moved quickly, crossing the space that distanced the Uchiha from himself, throwing his leg around as he aimed for his attack. Sasuke prepared himself too, seeing it all coming but his block was not need for a sudden flash of green came between them, stopping both attacks from each side.

'_He's…so fast!'_ Sakura thought in amazement. _'He's completely different from the person we saw earlier on the ground.'_

Naruto looked back and forth between the three teens. "Hey Sakura, wasn't that guy," he pointed to the boy in the middle, dressed in a green jumpsuit, "Over there…?"

Sakura nodded, still wondering about Naruto's health, more so with every minute for he seemed to be talking kind of slower then his usual fast speed. She shook her head, looking back to the other three. Sasuke looked pissed, as well as the other while the boy clad in green just sighed, claiming to have made it just in time. Another male, most likely on his team – Sakura guessed – scolded the boy dressed in green.

"What happened to our plan!" he whispered. "It was yours to begin with."

The pink haired girl recognized him from her first look. His colorless eyes and brown hair told her he was of the Hyuga clan. She knew their eyes could do something but wasn't too sure what.

"Well…" Sakura saw the boy in green look her way, a girl behind him shaking her head. He walked over to her oddly and began to introduce himself.

"Hello, my name is Rock Lee!" the faint blush on his cheeks gave her an eerie feeling but she gave her name as well.

"Ah, Sakura, that's a pretty name."

"Thank you…"

Naruto looked at the two in confusion, "Mine's Naruto Uzumaki." Lee didn't pay him any mind. He gave his biggest smile and winked, giving a thumbs up to the girl,

"Let's go out together! I'll protect you till the day I die!"

Both Naruto and Sakura were in shock from the sudden speech, Sakura quickly declined. "No way… you're lame…"

Lee's shoulder's fell and his head nearly touched his chest.

Sasuke, paying little mind to his teammate's as Naruto's laughter filled the corridor, spotted the Hyuga coming over.

"What's your name?" the colorless eyes looked into his dark ones.

Naruto clumsily walked away from Sakura towards the Uchiha and glared at the Hyuga, "Why doesn't any one want to know my name?"

Sakura was relived to hear his voice sounding normal again, whatever had been bothering him not too long ago was out of his system. _'Naruto always did have an odd healing ability…' _She remembered back when they were in wave country, the mission with the bridge builder.

Sasuke looked away from his teammate and back to the Hyuga, "When you want to learn someone's name you should give yours first."

Changing the question, the Hyuga asked, "You're a rookie, correct? How old are you then?"

Sasuke sucked his teeth and turned away, "I don't have to answer you."

Pulling the blonde in the right direction once more, Sasuke continued to walk towards the stairs, Sakura right behind them.

As they reached the landing Sakura voiced her worries aloud about Naruto's health.

"I didn't want to say anything because there were so many people around us before but… Naruto, are you feeling okay today?"

The blonde wrinkled his brows and pouted out his lips, "Uh… yeah, why do you ask?"

"Because you're acting strange, you moron." Sasuke glared at him, "If you mess up my chances of being in the exam …"

"Hey! You with the dark eyes!"

Team seven looked up to a balcony where Rock Lee was standing, looking down at them. Naruto was surprised, Sakura disgusted, and Sasuke answered the question directed at himself with another question.

"What is it?"

"Fight me, right here and now!"

'_He'll just lose anyway.' _Sakura thought to herself.

"You want to fight me?" Sasuke asked. The boy in green nodded, jumping down from above and landing perfectly with little sound. His big eyes looked over towards Sakura and she paled.

"I think he's only doing this 'cause he wants you to notice him." The blonde voice her greatest fears.

She started rambling about the long list of things that were wrong with him. Naruto complained some more about him not being important in battles whenever Sasuke was around.

"Whatever, do as you loser want! I'm going to room three hundred and … whatever." Naruto, voice becoming dull and slow again, walked down the corridor. The pink haired girl moved nervously before following him, not wanting to be late. After a sigh, the Uchiha waved off Rock Lee and walked at his own speed after his two teammates.

"I'll meet you in the exam then." Lee said strongly.

Looking over his shoulder as he came to a halt, Sasuke grinned. "You bet."

Though it was the first time Rock Lee had met the Uchiha, something about him seemed off. The way his eyes looked at him before he left… Actually the other boy on the team too. Lee couldn't remember his name, but the blonde looked pretty odd too, like he wasn't really conscience of the things coming out his mouth or what was going on around his body. Yes he feared for the girl on team seven, Sakura. She didn't seem to be safe.

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TBC…

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I apologize for everything:

The chapter being late

The chapter being short

Etc.

First off the chapter was late because I didn't have my computer. It was dieing a slow and painful death until it was sent back to its company and fixed like new. The chapter is short because I wrote this all in one day just for you (the readers) and I now need to get to bed. All in all, I hope you liked it and will hopefully see some reviews in my mail box later.

Also, for the line:

_Sakura hoped she wouldn't be the one to disgrace her village and her people. _

Here I thought I'd add a little bit of irony into Sakura's character. While the text books describe the deaths as horrible for a different reason then people would in reality Sakura agrees with them.

Thanks for reading,

CR


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